NZ’s Henderson wins Paris to Nice second stage

Reuters, AMILLY, FRANCE

Maxime Bouet leads the breakaway ahead of Tony Gallopin, center, and Remi Pauriol, all of France, on Monday in Montfort-l’Amaury, southern Paris, before the second stage of the 69th Paris to Nice race.

Photo: AFP

New Zealand’s Greg Henderson overpowered his rivals to win the Paris to Nice second leg on Monday, almost one year after claiming his maiden stage victory in the race.

The sprinters held sway after a windy 199km ride through the flat plains of the Beauce, a 5 hour journey in northern France marred by several minor crashes.

After a long break by Frenchmen Yoann Offredo, Maxime Bouet and Tony Gallopin, the peloton regrouped 30km from the line and Henderson edged out Australian Matthew Goss and Russian Denis Galimzyanov, who was celebrating his 24th birthday, for a carbon copy of his win last year in nearby Contres.

“It’s always fantastic here. It’s an amazing race, it’s the biggest race for me, it’s the Everest,” the New Zealander told reporters. “I was just sitting there waiting. It was a really long sprint and I was lucky to hold my speed to the line.”

Luxembourg’s Frank Schleck and German Tony Martin were involved in minor crashes on Monday, while Australian Heinrich Haussler fell in a roadside ditch but clawed his way back into the bunch and eventually finished fourth in the same time as the stage winner.

“It was crazy today, so nervy,” Henderson said. “Everyone was scared of the wind breaking the peloton to pieces. There were like 10 crashes ... and it was just a matter of staying at the front as much as possible.”

Forty kilometers from the finish at Amilly, escapees Bouet and Gallopin were stopped at a railway crossing and caught by the peloton.

They were allowed to restart with the same gap they had when the race was halted, only to be reined in a few kilometers down the road.

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